Ning Zhiheng was overjoyed. The engraver responsible for carving the steel plates for the Central Reserve Bank coins had also come to Shanghai. This was a wonderful surprise, a stroke of good luck!
Once people arrive in Shanghai, they are hard to escape his grasp. Everyone has weaknesses and vulnerabilities. With a little thought and a combination of soft and hard tactics, he is not afraid that these two will not give in. After thinking for a moment, he already had some preliminary plans.
He then asked, "Where are these equipment and personnel currently? Have they gone to Nanjing or stayed in Shanghai?"
He Siming replied, "It is currently still in Shanghai, and it is located in the printing plant exclusively owned by the Shanghai Specie Bank. That is also the factory where the Japanese military previously printed military notes. According to Taro Sagawa, the printing of the Central Reserve Bank of China's currency will also be completed here."
Ning Zhiheng nodded. Although Nanjing was currently the political center of the Japanese military and puppet government, if it was about developing the economy and opening banks to issue banknotes, Shanghai would be the first choice. After all, it was the financial center of the Far East, with a developed economy, a large population, and banks from all over the world gathered there.
In particular, the Yokohama Specie Bank was one of Japan's earliest specialized foreign exchange banks. By the end of the last century, it had already established its headquarters in Shanghai. Subsequently, with Shanghai as its center, it successively established branches throughout China, from Shenyang, Changchun, and Harbin in the Northeast; Beijing, Tianjin, and Qingdao in North China; Hankou in the west; and Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the south. It can be said that the Yokohama Specie Bank's financial expansion has reached the entire territory of China.
After the outbreak of the full-scale war between China and Japan, the Japanese government, in addition to operating the largest international bank in the Far East, cooperated with the Japanese invading army to control the financial sector in the occupied areas, destroy China's national industry and financial sector, and used a large amount of funds to support and support industrial and mining enterprises controlled by the Japanese army, develop resources, and purchase materials in order to achieve the goal of "using war to support war".
In terms of currency, it promoted the circulation of military notes, joint bank notes, Mengjiang notes, and reserve notes, monopolized the Japanese foreign exchange market, and became the main financial institution for Japan's economic aggression against China.
The Central Reserve Bank soon to be established by the Nanjing puppet government was, in essence, nothing more than a shell bank controlled by the Yokohama Specie Bank. It can be inferred that the financial activities of the Nanjing Central Reserve Bank would mainly take place in Shanghai, so the printing and issuance of the Central Reserve Bank currency would also be completed in Shanghai.
Ning Zhiheng smiled slightly and said, "Very good. If we had really gone to Nanjing, I would have had to put in a lot more effort. Your news came at just the right time. It has solved a big problem for me. You know, our intelligence department is currently facing a serious funding problem and urgently needs to find new sources of income to replenish our funds. Before you came, I was worried about this!"
He was quite surprised to hear this. He knew very well that the Fujiwara Company, which Ning Zhiheng controlled, dominated the smuggling business in East and Central China, making countless huge profits every year. It was no exaggeration to call it a gold mine or a sea of silver. It was really unexpected that Ning Zhiheng was now worried about funds.
Seeing He Siming's expression, Ning Zhiheng knew what he was thinking, so he briefly described the current situation of the intelligence section, and finally said: "The supply lines from Myanmar are about to be restricted, and the burden on our shoulders will be heavier. In the coming period, the focus of our intelligence section's work will be on expanding economic sources and ensuring the transportation of supplies. We will do our best to supply as much blood as possible to the overall war effort. You also need to try every means to contact these people in the Japanese financial world, especially the Japanese who hold key positions."
He Siming nodded. His greatest strength was making friends and cultivating good relationships, and it wasn't difficult for him to do so.
Ning Zhiheng then asked, "Did you see those counterfeit legal tender bills?"
He Siming nodded and replied, "I saw it. I checked it for a long time, and it's exactly the same as the real banknotes. Even Taro Sagawa couldn't find any flaws. Moreover, the Japanese even deliberately aged it. It can be said that if this batch of counterfeit banknotes were put on the market, it would be indistinguishable from the real thing!"
Ning Zhiheng thought for a moment and said, "Can you make a few samples? Ordinary people can't tell the difference. I'll find some experts in the field to take a look. As long as we can find the characteristics that are inconsistent with the legal tender, we can spread the defects of counterfeit money and curb the spread to a certain extent."
"Yes, I will find a way to bring out a few of each of these two denominations of counterfeit banknotes. It won't be difficult!" He Siming nodded in acceptance.
Time flies, and a few days have passed quickly. The atmosphere at the headquarters of Agent 76 has been quite tense these past few days. After returning to Shanghai, Li Zhiqun conducted a large number of investigations and adjustments within Agent 76.
In the organization, the position of director of the Second Division, which had been vacant until now, was finally filled. Li Zhiqun promoted Mi Zijin, the former head of the intelligence section of the Second Division, to the position of director.
Fu Hengwen, the head of the Confidential Office, was dismissed and investigated, and imprisoned in cell number 76. The interrogation team knew that this was Li Zhiqun's family matter, so they treated him with some consideration. However, when he could be released depended on the attitude of his wife, Li Zhiqun's sister.
The crackdown focused on the western part of Shanghai. Wu Shicai, who was in charge of the gambling and drug business in western Shanghai, was arrested, and several of his close associates were also detained. Li Zhiqun personally presided over the interrogation and investigated the whereabouts of the funds.
On the day Wu Shicai was detained, Li Zhiqun's teacher's wife, Chen Jinbao, came to his door to plead for Wu Shicai. Wu Shicai's wife, She Aizhen, cried and made a scene, and even threw a tantrum in Li Zhiqun's office, almost threatening to hang herself. This whole ordeal left Li Zhiqun extremely embarrassed, but he couldn't argue with her goddaughter because of Chen Jinbao.
When Li Zhiqun was down on his luck and in dire straits, he sought refuge under Li Yunqing's tutelage, which allowed him to escape. Li Yunqing treated him well. Later, when he returned to Shanghai, with the strong support of Li Yunqing and Chen Jinbao, he was able to establish the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters in a very short time. To this day, all the operational forces of the Special Agent Headquarters are still mainly composed of Li Yunqing's disciples. It can be said that Chen Jinbao has a very high prestige among these disciples. When she pleaded for Wu Shicai, Li Zhiqun had to give it a lot of thought.
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